Richfield Rep. Thissen: 'Let's Be Real'

Editor's note: Capitol Review is a weekly look at what your state legislators are doing at the Minnesota Capitol—how they're voting, the bills they're writing and the issues they're getting behind. Come back to Richfield Patch every Monday for a new Capitol Review.

The week ended with the Senate and House passing all of their omnibus finance bills, which Republican leaders felt was an accomplishment, according to a press release from non-partisan Public Information Services.

While Republicans were happy to pass the bills within the first week of April, DFLers didn’t share the same sentiments, the release said.

House Minority Leader Paul Thissen (DFL-Minneapolis), who also represents part of Richfield, said the Republican majority’s accomplishments are more like considerations.

“Let’s be real, there is no Republican budget yet; there is just a bunch of competing Republican proposals that they can’t even agree on,” Thissen said. “And with the $1 billion of exaggerated or phony money in their House budget, there is a lot of work that needs to be done.”

Thissen’s side of the isle also made claims that the House budget will result in the loss of more than 30,000 jobs, while Republicans argued their focus had been retaining jobs while being more efficient.

In other business, here’s a recap of the bills authored and co-authored by Richfield’s legislative representatives:

State Sen. Ken Kelash (DFL-Richfield)

• Co-authored a bill preventing unfair business practices by credit and debit card companies. SF1107 was introduced April 7 and referred to the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee the same day.
• Co-authored a bill awarding grants for summer youth employment programs.
• Co-authored a bill adopting recommendations of Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council, which required rulemaking and amending Minnesota Statutes 2010.

Thissen and Rep. Linda Slocum (DFL-Richfield) didn’t author or co-author any bills.